Cigén, S and Sardén, Y (2004) The effects of communication on timber supplier's relations with a construction company. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 20th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2004, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
During recent years the profitability and the possibility to increase the value and level of raw material processing in the Swedish wood working industry has been discussed. Parallel with this discussion the need for increased efficiency and a reduction of costs in the construction industry has been at focus. An use of industrialized building techniques and systems has been suggested, as an outcome of these discussions initiatives to develop new wood based products for the building industry is taken. The aim is to analyze the effects of communication on the supplier relations in the Swedish timber construction process. The empirical material was collected through interviews where a large number of representatives from the wood working and the construction industry participated. A construction project is traditionally divided into distinct phases as a "relay-race". The greatest possibility to affect the economy in a construction project is known to occur the early phases of the project. The results show that the highest impact on these phases is achieved by mutual development of construction systems and new working methods. It is evident from the results that effective ways of sharing information are needed. The communication process should carefully be designed so that information is transferred using rich, personal media such as personal contact between the communicating participants. This is most significant for a successful communication at the beginning of each phase.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | business strategy; communication; housing; information management; project management |
| Index terms: | efficiency, interview, construction company, business strategy, wood, timber construction, media, profitability, building industry, construction project, project management, construction system, housing, industrialized building, construction industry |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, building construction, sociology, project management theory and practice, production management, traditional and composite building materials, performance management, design practice, economic analysis, business, organization, data collection methods, construction type |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Design Practice, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Construction Materials, Business Strategy, Construction Technology |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here